


the spirit rises (for vengeance)

by sunflower_8



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: ...maybe? idk, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Brainwashing, Depression, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Ghosts, Horror, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Non-Consensual Kissing, Panic Attacks, Psychological Horror, Sexual Assault, Unhealthy Relationships, graveyards, not fully but like, nothing demonstrated with the main ship is healthy, talking about death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 02:29:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20631608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflower_8/pseuds/sunflower_8
Summary: all he felt was the cold.





	the spirit rises (for vengeance)

the gates to the graveyard were tall and gothic, constructed from rusty black metal that creaked with a simple push. ravens gathered on the points of the structure, looking picturesque before the birds left, leaving a different kind of murder behind. the gates loomed over shuichi saihara, who brushed his shoulder against the door as he entered the cemetery, the groan of the closing metal behind him making him flinch, curling in on himself. even with the entrance behind him, shuichi still felt fear as he observed the area. the graves came in all different shapes, some crosses, some simple slabs, some more contemporary models. the flowers at their feet were wilted -- those brightly colored  _ (decaying) _ flowers looked sickly unnatural, but it was a nice gesture. shuichi figured he would want fresh flowers at his grave. he also noticed that the grass was overgrown, extending beyond the top of his boots. the trees were dark and shadowed, only illuminated by moonlight.

he should not be here so late at night, but it’s not his choice.

beside him, he felt his best friend, kaito momota, shiver. wide purple eyes anxiously searched the graveyard, as though the athletic and endlessly optimistic individual was terrified of being bested by zombies or ghouls, lurking hungrily in underground crypts. it was a fair enough concern for someone like kaito-- so emotional and caring that shuichi feared he would break-- though the thoughts itself were not at all logical. shuichi always abided by facts and disbelief in what he can’t see, but the atmosphere of this place felt like the underworld, and he half expected the spirit of hades to possess his friend.

“fucking hell…” kaito mumbled, kicking the brown-grey dirt and frowning. “this place is really creepy. why did maki roll-”

“we’ve been over this.” maki harukawa was a few steps ahead of them, and she turned on her heel to address her boyfriend. “there’s a person who stole something from me, and it’s buried with their corpse.” she spat the words out as if it left a sour, bitter taste in her mouth. “i’m retrieving it.”

“graverobbing, you mean.” kaito retorted.

“it’s not graverobbing. that implies that i want to dishonor the dead or something. it’s not my fault that the grave belonged to a bastard.” maki twisted her hands in agitation. shuichi had known maki for years, ever since high school started, and he’s seen her go through many things. yet, through all of those trying experiences, he had never witnessed her being this upset about something. shuichi was concerned for her, which is the main reason he accompanied her to this place. he wanted her unrest to cease, and maybe she could find closure in the stones of silence.

still, though he knew what the goal was, there was still a question that went unanswered, “ah, maki?” he asked, his voice timid and meek.

“yeah?”

“can you tell us the person we’re… retrieving… this item from?”

maki shook her head, her voice deepening as her eyes darkened. “you’ll find out soon enough, if i can find the damn grave. besides, doesn’t really matter, does it? you’re a detective, you can probably figure out the big mystery here.”

shuichi already knew; he had figured out maki’s connection to the victim soon after she declared her motive. still, he withheld from stating the information out loud. if maki wasn’t planning to mention the victim’s identity, then it’s likely not shuichi’s place to unveil the truth. besides, even though kaito is dating maki, there were still many things about her life that creeped him out. this mission was crossing the line from shady to twisted, and it wasn’t something to worry him with. 

maki suddenly stopped walking, kneeling down and looking at the name on the grave. kaito and shuichi began walking faster as she confirmed: “yeah. this is the one.”

when kaito reached the tombstone, shuichi just behind him, he read the name aloud. “kokichi ouma?”

“that’s the one.” 

compared to the other tombs, dated back decades ago, this one was fairly clean and new. dust still covered the inscription, and shuichi noticed that there were no flowers left at the grave. an eerie observation and a regretful one; it’s hard to match the sorrow of a forgotten grave. he reached out a tentative hand to clear off the dust coating, using his jacket sleeve so he didn’t dirty his hand. kaito muttered the words engraved in the stone under his breath as shuichi read them silently:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

KOKICHI OUMA

JUNE 21, 1999

BELOVED SON AND FRIEND

“that’s... huh?”

“what?” kaito looked over at shuichi, who squinted his eyes at the grave. he wiped it off one last time to confirm, before speaking again.

“there... isn’t a date of death?”

maki scoffed, “why am i not surprised?” she took off the backpack she was wearing, pulling out a spade and beginning to shovel the dirt; not showing any remorse, only determination. “surprised he even has the bottom part. last i checked, his family was dead.”

kaito tensed up, “did you know him, maki roll?”

“...”

only the sound of digging filled the air. kaito stood up to help maki, although he seemed disturbed by the action, while shuichi looked around the graveyard. his previous observations still remained, but he now noticed how truly vacant the area was. typically, there would be multiple mourning figures scattered, not in close vicinity, but still present throughout. however, there wasn’t a single person shuichi could spot. that could partly be caused by the late hour - it was approximately 3 AM - but it was still eerie and unusual. shouldn’t there at least be a groundskeeper? 

shuichi shook off the sudden chills he received, wrapping his jacket closer to him and paying more attention to what his friends were doing. maki was heaving up scoops of dirt, creating a small pile next to the grave, while kaito tried to help with a tinier, more useless shovel. the hole was getting deeper, and… they should be hitting the coffin soon.

kaito seemed to follow this train of thought, too. he straightened, lowering the shovel and stepping back. “hey, maki roll, aren’t we going to see, y’know…”

“the body?” she supplied.

“yeah.”

“well, we are digging up the grave. we should have expected that.” her facial expression didn’t convey any distress at the idea, though, considering she was an assassin, that wasn’t surprising.

kaito, on the other hand, was shocked. “that’s... that’s a little much, y’know?”

maki quirked her lips into a morbid smile, shaking her head. “well, we’ll just have to deal with that, won’t we?”

the process became methodical to watch after a while. maki thrusted her spade into the dirt, scraping the earth before throwing the gravel and soil to the side and repeating. she grew closer and closer to where bones should be, kaito watching in fright, when…

…huh?

“where are the bones?”

maki waved shuichi off, but he could tell she was shocked by this fact too. “...i’m sure it’s fine. just a bit-”

suddenly, as though overcome with an abrupt revelation, maki dropped the shovel. her legs were shaking as she struggled to stand, and seconds later, she fell back into a kneeling position, lurching forward and gagging, as though both choking and vomiting. kaito immediately sat next to her, shouting her name and thumping her back. shuichi moved to her other side, supporting her up as she dry heaved again, this time intercepting it with her hand.

when she moved her hand back, there wasn't any bile or remnants of food or anything that shuichi was expecting.

instead, there was a blood-like liquid, except pure black.

“maki roll!”

she pushed herself up, cursing as she staggered. kaito held her upright as she spoke. “w-what the fuck?  _ what the fuck? _ ”

“we need to get you to a hospital!” kaito said, already moving back to the car.

“yeah! we need to-” maki coughed again, and shuichi cut off his sentence there. the couple sprinted to the car, kaito half carrying maki as her posture caved and her legs grew weaker. kaito was reassuring her, speaking in a slightly frenzied tone, and shuichi was following them, when…

when...

when…?

something was pulling him back.

both of his friends made it to the car, starting the ignition and driving away before shuichi could follow. he was trying to move forward, but it was as though a hand, icy cold and small, was wrapped around his wrist. the hold was tight enough to later spring bruises. he bit his lip, turning around and expecting to see a groundskeeper, angry about the mess.

shuichi saihara was a realist, and he lived by facts and truths. he had little room for superstition or fantasy, and he typically stayed away from that kind of stuff anyway. when shuichi turned around however, facing whatever was holding him, everything he had previously followed like law dissolved in front of him, fading away into static. because, by every definition and description, shuichi was being held back by a ghost. 

the ghost had a translucent appearance. he could see vague outlines of where clothes and facial features would be, but he could also look through them. a dark purple line, almost like an aura, outlined the figure, creating a sense of depth and detail that  _ wasn’t even there _ . the same shade of purple lit up the creature’s eyes, pulsing to the tempo of a heartbeat. this was a ghost.

shuichi was facing a ghost.

“oh my god.” his voice was breathless, quieter than a whisper, as if all the energy and will was sucked out of him in that moment. it felt like it, too; his blood was rushing to his extremities, and he was sure his face was white. he was freezing, the wind having picked up the second the ghost had grabbed his wrist, and with every second it grew fiercer.

“nope, guess again!” the voice was creepily human, as though it was one of shuichi’s friends speaking to him, but there was a slight echo to it, a slight melody. the tone of the ghost’s voice was playful and energetic, almost youthful. 

the appearance of the ghost was youthful, too. from the small details shuichi can make out, the creature was short, with wild hair and a childish face. he had a scarf, too; shuichi could see some fabric not long enough to reach the ghost’s chest, but instead bunched at the neck. the ghost looked so normal, so tiny and small and  _ easy to kill _ , and that was unnerving.

shuichi gaped for a moment, then tried speaking again, his voice a bit louder than before. “... what?”

the ghost imitated what seemed like a laugh before replying. “i’m not god, silly! you know who i am, don’t you?”

although logic was thrown out the window here, shuichi could still follow basic clues. he knew exactly who he was talking to. “...kokichi ouma?”

“nope! my name is actually dolores cambridge, i died centuries ago. what a shame! just kidding, i’m totally kokichi. pleased to meet you!”

“... you’re a ghost.”

kokichi’s voice was thick with sarcasm, “no, i’m  _ totally  _ a human being talking to you right now. of course i’m a ghost! you were looking at my grave with your friend, maki harukawa, only a few seconds ago, now weren’t you?”

_ he said her name so amicably, casually, as if they were friends. _

shuichi felt faint, and it was hard to keep himself standing upright. kokichi’s grip on his hand was grounding in the worst possible way. “you’re a ghost.”

“...we already established this. oh, are you doing the thing where you’re like, processing shock by repeating the same phrase over and over?”

“holy shit, you’re a ghost.”

“yeah, that’s exactly what you’re doing. superb.” kokichi rolled his eyes, which was extremely weird considering he was a ghost. 

_ oh my god. _

shuichi was panicking. he’s dealt with panic attacks before-- though certainly not in situations like this-- and he recognized the shortness of breath, the heaviness on his chest, the desire to sink to his knees and be swallowed by the earth itself. he took in more air than he could sustain, panting it out in hyperventilation. shame came in the form of tears in his eyes, burning as they fell. anything would have been less surreal than this, less terrifying than this. 

it seemed the ghost had courtesy, though, because his face shifted to something more serious, and his voice was actually concerned when he said, “shuichi?”

“h-how-” shuichi gasped. he realized now that kokichi was still holding onto him, and he ripped his grip away. “how did y-you know my n-name?”

kokichi jerkily looked up, glancing down at his hand before meeting shuichi’s eyes. all concern faded from his face as something more animalistic took control. “give me your arm.”

“w-what? answer my ques-”

“give me your arm.” kokichi’s voice lowered in pitch, and his voice was more menacing and sinister now. shuichi flinched at the cold tone, and kokichi made no adjustments. he stared at shuichi, his eyes no longer pulsing. shuichi wondered if the contact made them act that way, as if replicating his own heartbeat.

hesitantly, shuichi extended his arm. kokichi grabbed hold of it desperately, sighing in relief when he had a firm grasp. his voice shifted back to normal and his eyes shifted back to movement. “there we go. just don’t let go of me, kay?”

“... why?”

“i know you’re a detective, but you don’t have to question everything.” kokichi groaned. “it is kinda cute though!”

“how do you know i’m a detective?”

“it’s not that difficult to tell, honey. you’ve made pretty clever observations while you were at my grave.”

“a-about that. if i may…” why was shuichi so scared? he could hear his heart beating loudly, his mind fixated on the dark tone and relief associated with giving the ghost his arm.

“go ahead!”

“um… what…” he inhaled, then started again, “you were one of maki’s targets, right? you took something from her, and she only found out after she killed you.”

“right-o! nice job, detective! cheers!” kokichi obnoxiously celebrated shuichi’s observations, even though they were minuscule. “anyways, yup, maki killed me! i did take something of hers, but technically, it’s not with me…”

“what?”

“you see, i knew maki way way back. i stole her ring as a prank. something from her orphanage. which i knew, of course, but i figured it didn’t matter. that’s a lie, i knew it mattered. i just wanted to mess with her. it’s not like she hasn’t done shit too.” the last part was muttered, the echoes in his voice almost enhanced. shuichi stilled, but kokichi continued more cheerfully after. “anyway, a few months later, she got a job to kill me, and after some emotional conflicts and a few arguments with us, she did it. and she didn’t really notice the ring was gone.”

“... are you finished?”

“mhm!”

“ah, well…” shuichi bit his lip, “that’s a lie. i’ve seen maki wearing the ring before, and i know for a fact that at the time, she had very few friends. i’ve met all of those she had, which was just kaede, so you likely didn’t know her then. additionally, i know she keeps her ring very close to her, so if it was gone for a few months, she would notice.”

for a second, kokichi looked stunned. however, his face melted into a grin, and he laughed, “nishishishi, it’s a lie! you are right on the money, shuichi!”

“so, if that was a lie, what’s the truth?”

kokichi pouted, “telling you takes away the fun.”

“but-“

“shhh.” kokichi pressed a cold finger to his lips, “let’s talk about something more fun, hm?” he leaned against his hand, sighing. “tell me about yourself, shuichi.”

“a-ah…” no harm in it now..? “i’m, uhm, i’m twenty. i’m a detective-“

“i already know this. tell me more interesting stuff! your darkest secrets, illegal shit, kinks?”

why shuichi’s life had reached a point where he’s blushing in front of a ghost, nobody knows. 

he was still trying to determine the harm in this. despite the hand situation, kokichi seemed trustworthy. then again, he was a ghost, and he could technically haunt shuichi at any point. giving up personal information seemed like a bad idea, but kokichi already knew that stuff. would it hurt to tell him his struggles? would he be taunted for them? he could probably afford to tell him, though.

wait, why was he agreeing to this? he would have never before, why does his brain feel fuzzy? why can’t he… refuse?

“shuichiiii~” kokichi called, snapping shuichi from his thoughts. 

“yeah? sorry.”

“you’re conflicted about all of this, aren't you?” kokichi’s other hand grabbed shuichi’s right wrist, and the ghost drifted closer. “let me make this easier.”

without giving any warning, kokichi leaned in and kissed shuichi. it felt… strange. his lips were freezing cold, but surprisingly experienced. shuichi felt kokichi dominating the kiss, opening the others mouth. when shuichi came to his senses, he tried to fight him off, but he was almost bound by invisible chains, keeping him in place as the kiss progressed. soon enough, he pulled away, but shuichi could still feel the cold.

cold?

… all shuichi felt was the cold.

so, when kokichi prompted him to speak again, shuichi found nothing in him holding him back. it was like his lips were the floodgates, and those had been forced open, letting the words spill past them one after another without restraint: “i have depression. nobody knows except kaito and maki and my friend kaede. i’m really lonely. my work is killing me, i’m so burned out, i need something interesting.”

“aww... poor shuichi! i’m glad you trusted me with all that.” his voice was so caring, it was probably the right… no, no, why was shuichi trusting him? why- “you said you need something interesting? hm...” kokichi hummed. “if i asked you to do a little task for me, would  _ that  _ be interesting?”

“...what do you want me to do?” shuichi’s voice was tired. when did he become tired?

a frigid hand stroked shuichi’s cheek as kokichi spoke, cautious and precise. “my death happened far too early. i was only twenty when i died. your age. are you ready to die?”

“...maybe.”

kokichi laughed bitterly. “well, i was not. i was robbed of a life, and the person who killed me,  _ maki harukawa _ -” unlike before, he said her name so bitterly, so spitefully. “deserves to die.”

shuichi felt his blood run cold, “y-you’re... you’re asking m-me to-”

“shhhh…you’re panicking again.” kokichi caressed shuichi’s cheek as he trembled and started to sob. he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe, this was too much and why does part of him want to listen to kokichi? why was this happening? this was bullshit, this was a dream, this was-

kokichi kissed him again, more forceful than before. shuichi resisted in all the ways he could: pushing against the hand clamped on his wrist, trying to pull away, trying to speak, but none of his attempts worked. kokichi kissed him again and again, soon involving tongue and completely silencing him. his entire body burned; his lips, his wrist, everywhere the ghost touched him was on fire, despite the ghost’s touch being so cold. he didn’t know who he was, he didn’t know anything. as kokichi came closer, shuichi no longer remembered anything. his mind was numb and he craved the kiss like a drug, as if it was all he needed.

who was he kissing?

when kokichi finally let go, his outline looked less translucent and more solid. he was a real person, in front of shuichi. he was real. 

_ why was he doubting him? _

“i want you to join me, shuichi.” kokichi whispered, earnestly, honestly. “i want to heal you. i want you to feel good. i want to love you. all you need to do is do this for me, okay? then we can be together.”

kill maki harukawa. kill her, and probably kill kaito too. the only two people who have ever cared about shuichi, or looked at him like family.

the hands around his wrist, tracing his body, keeping him captive… they burn.

“i…can’t.”

kokichi’s eyes flared dangerously. “you will.”

<strike> please god please i don’t want to do this i don’t care about him run away you’ll be okay just run </strike>

<strike> i want to die i want to leave i don’t want to  </strike> help him. 

“...okay.” shuichi was crying, his words forced out of his mouth. his body was numb, was he brainwashed? what he being controlled? the death sentence of his friend, the grip on his wrist, the weight of kokichi’s stare. it was all heavier than the knife in his back pocket, the knife that he didn’t have before. 

kokichi kissed his tears away, resting a hand on his chest. “shh... it’s okay. kiss me again.”

shuichi obeyed.

he felt lighter. every kiss kept him happy, kept him safe. he knew his purpose as the two remained intertwined. he knew-

<strike> this isn’t how the story ends this can’t be </strike>

<strike> break free, break free, please i </strike>

<strike> this isn’t right please this isn’t right it’s too much it’s too much </strike>

it was just enough.

shuichi knew what he had to do.

**Author's Note:**

> so, it's friday the thirteenth, and i wanted to post something for it. this was an idea i wrote a while back, but i decided to rewrite it to make it a bit better and post it.
> 
> i was running on a deadline, and also i'm just kinda bad at writing. plus, i don't know how to write brainwashing. overall, this fic probably isn't very good. but i wanted something spooky. (more spook awaiting you halloween)
> 
> in any case, i hope you liked it regardless! comments are appreciated. questions, too, i used a lot of my own theories on ghosts and such, so certain things i just threw in with minimal explanation in story.


End file.
